one of the biggest iranian minds. want to. be looking for other countries. to keep protesting against the countries. for criticizing.

the artistic director of moscow's world famous bolshoi ballet heads to germany for special treatment. acid attack on him two weeks ago. from the new center here in moscow this is r t with you twenty four hours a day the president. has confirmed that french troops have been guarding one of his country's biggest irena mines that's in a bid to avoid a repetition of last month's hostage crisis in neighboring algeria. spoke to my colleague. the mine in question is the olive facility a location in which the french company a river has a large stake now it's important to know that this is the second mission in africa

completely separate from france's mission in mali which has been going on for nearly a month as neighbors mali and the situation continues to remain unstable the french government is making it clear that they are ready and willing to protect their assets in the region and on the african continent as a whole protecting assets in the region many know that france gets most of its energy from nuclear power hence the uranium is very very important indeed so massive economic concerns are indeed but as you also mention that we've called the french led multinational intervention going going in mali now boots on the ground in nigeria where it's certainly getting a lot of reaction from critics around the world at the moment certainly has been if you ask france they've pointed to the incident that happened last month in eastern algeria when islam ists took over a gas plant in their adventure leading to forty eight people being killed thirty seven of those foreign workers france is predicting that more islamist retaliation to french presence in africa is likely and they say they want to prevent a tragic situation like this from happening again but then again the world's fifth

largest producer of uranium a product that is vital to the french economy in fact it's estimated that nearly all or at least seventy five percent of france's electric infrastructure is dependent on nuclear power given this it makes sense that france would want to protect that resource at all costs the president has welcomed the french presence in the country and recognizes the need for the having security but has also stated that they want to better deal when it comes to uranium exports measures economy is also largely dependent on your radio as well critics have already been wary of french involvement in mali claiming that the real motivation is a return to imperialism economic policy and a stronger control of a region that used to be french territory now with france's expansion into neighboring countries compiled with president expressing his concerns those critics now have a bit more that they can chew on. john laughlin who's the director of studies at the institute of democracy and cooperation in paris believes securing natural

resources is not only goal france has in the region. i think the two main factors in this are france's own desire to strengthen the whole role on the international stage in particular piece of you know european partners and also the american strict future plans for africa it's important to know that america which strongly supports france in this mali and intervention has plans for establishing a military presence in the military control over the whole of the african continent some people speculated that used the phrase that this was america leading from behind that america had decided to put forward its european allies to do as it were its dirty work in a continent where as i'm sure many of your you know china has been establishing an economic presence now very successfully for a large number of years so there is a scramble for africa isn't there or is it just to grab the resources yes it's

obvious that the securing of energy resources is one of the key factors behind many if not most political developments today and that's why i say that the of course the issue of hydrocarbons and uranium and other energy sources is a key and may even be the decisive factor in modern northeastern mali french jets have carried out a series of airstrikes on the bases and field episodes of islamic terrorists with the intervention now heading towards the deserts and away from the cities but he reports on what's left on the ground after the liberating troops move on. francoise hollande victorious trip to timbuktu marked the declaration that three major cities in northern mali have been declared liberated from rebels although the sharia law and islamic extremism of the rebels and forced will not soon be forgotten nevertheless this victory is a partial one the militants have merely retreated and fled and the suffering in

this war has seems disproportionate to the gains made we're learning what happened in battle day by day in the town of kona we heard stories from the fog of war this is small settlement in the mopti region was seized by the more yo tribe they fled to the north when french troops showed up but it's reported that the cost of that victory was high while french planes killed only two rebels the number of civilian casualties was an estimated fourteen he said i wasn't home when the bombing began i started praying when i learned my house was under attack they ruined everything i had my family and my livelihood my wife's name was i mean not her she was forty my son ali was eleven when adam was ten and so you know who was six they all died as honest. people such as this farmer idris ask themselves if the victory was worth it . we also met the campo family who had suffered badly when the bombing began

everyone scattered the campo lost two of their saunas unable to swim they drowned in the river while fleeing the fighting. we also heard the story of a young mother who died from shell splinters leaving three children behind a newborn baby in. the village was a complete mess it's impossible to describe how many discuss things i know for sure and i can say that all we had is gone. there's old hugh proving some kids came running up to us and said their mum had date i brought them to our house their mother died after an hour of clinging to life the children have nobody else but us . disaster visited every house in the town people reject anything the military claims about victory and say war crimes must be prosecuted under the geneva convention towns like qana want more than just compassion people who suffered at the hands of terrorist groups and drug traffickers are now facing the

misery inflicted by warfare it's about that you order without guns our wants. for our tea. and while president foresaw all and maybe hailing the only going french military campaign in west africa as a success that's more than could be said about his politics back home if a notional reports now from paris. well president on land is welcomed as a liberator in mali have to france's military operation against the islamists occupation back at home crowds are also gathered but with a starkly different mood where people are fired up over the continued decline of europe's second largest economy despite the president's promises to create at least one hundred thousand new jobs the nation is shedding them at an alarming rate last november about a thousand every day the worst figures in years the country's unemployment is approaching a shocking eleven percent with more than three million jobless the french daily

lives and claims the exact situation could be even worse if official statistics included youngsters never registered for the unemployment program or those who left it and those stuck with part time work the paper says the rate would then triple but there are certain. people expected to have a strong president and they understand that a line doesn't have enough experience for competence to improve things to weak as we see problems like you. know believes the strategic mistake was to rectify the e.u. so-called three percent treaty force in france to reduce its budget deficit down from four point five percent by hiking taxes and cutting spending. but while harsh criticism expected from the opposition disapprovals also been growing from like minded left wingers or complain but i think the president especially of a country like france one of six e.u. founders should be strong enough to say stop to others and say hey i have my nation

behind me and they elected me to make changes instead he surrendered because he's more worried about the country's debt and the ratings agencies make. in a short video french communists put together some of our lawns major presidential campaign vows none of which they say came true. look what that's all going to be oh the value added tax increase. i think it's inappropriate and unjustified and unreasonable and too hasty. what happened to well that's to remind the president do you remember you promised to review the european treaty you didn't do that here in germany set a three percent deficit isn't real but now only say it's possible etc etc you can't not do what you promised meanwhile recent polls show a little rise in the fringes of the breaking into four percent january to december is forty percent and the lawyer says he wants to office in may. every week that is

a new subject to discuss in the french media and to draw people's attention from the real problems like gay monitor day produce or now molly this strategy may work but not for long. after a land wonder french election last year some analysts described his victory as a victory against his predecessor some causey rather deeper mind now you see many of the past of the team that. can never. months of a lens presidency have been anything but sunny happenings and even his one staunch supporters predict even harder times lie ahead for the leader of the country's municipal elections in two thousand and fourteen have historically held great significance and will show whether the voters can forget and forgive. me for i think from paris. just as the head of crucial e.u. budget talks the leader of the blocs toughest economy has met the head of one of its weakest the german chancellor angela merkel said she has full trust in the

spanish government but its prime minister mariano to hoyle is facing massive criticism back home with corruption allegations and opposition calling for him to step down all of the reports now from burning. it could very well be called a meeting between the euro zone's haves and well quite frankly the have nots germany still widely regarded as the euro zone's only real success economically while as many fear that spain could go the way of greece now the spanish prime minister received the full welcome of germany including full military honors however if he was to turn up at the doorstep of many in his own country he may face severe criticism that's because many spanish citizens still think he hasn't done enough to deal with bank has the same basically the bearings are of this huge incredible feast run only by you agreed the governments are not helping the people

the topping the banks it has been at least thirty or fifty times the issue but in the last month there was three people they were going to be if you have to find out how it is but they hang themselves before the police were right there. i feel really sad when someone is thrown out because he has no one who can take care of him. this meeting between the leaders of germany and spain comes ahead of a very important summit taking place this week where european leaders will try and decide on the budget something which is separated countries within the union thus far. this is.

use continues here in kuwait an opposition activist has reportedly been sentenced to five years in prison for criticizing the country's unelected ruler on twitter it's the third time the person has been convicted on such charges in the country in the last two months speaking out against the emir of kuwait is considered the state

security charge and the city international recently had a key for increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly protests have been raging against the government and its crackdown on the sentence since two thousand and eleven tension flared even more off the december's parliamentary poll which was boycotted by the opposition one former m.p. claims the country's democracy has been disfigured. in the last month for him and. we refute claims that the national assembly represents the people of kuwait around seventy percent of the people boycotted the election and the assembly itself was elected thanks to an unconstitutional decree passed by the government which wanted a parliament it could control its lawmakers have failed to address widespread allegations of corruption democracy in kuwait has taken a twisted form it is the only democracy which is seeing an increase of corruption we will continue to hold peaceful marches peaceful rallies and we will continue to gather and protest. in the. middle east analyst jamie ingram says the regime of

kuwait is being propped up by the west in return for its economic allegiance i think that america's priorities are to keep face on the ground in q eight and we've seen that they've stayed in bahrain despite the events of the past two years and i think we'll see them maintain their presence in kuwait and they're very interested in continuing to sell arms to the regime of that's part of their security pact whereby they kuwait's security is maintained by external forces they are generous customers to places like the u.s. . and now to another monarchy that has its own problems with the opposition bahrain the regime protesters that once again clashed with police in various parts of the country the authorities used tear gas against the crowds which were hurling far bombs the gulf kingdom has been cracking down on pro-reform demonstrators for two years arresting fell's and including prominent activists the government claims has taken steps to address the brutality of the security forces but opposition

campaigners say daily assaults unabated. the number of dead from a suicide bomb attack on a group of anti al-qaeda fighters has risen to nineteen more than forty others were wounded incident took place as men gather to collect their salaries outside an office in a town north of baghdad the blast comes a day after several suicide attackers targeted a provincial police headquarters in kirkuk killing at least fifteen and wounding dozens. a skeleton found under a car park in the city of leicester in the u.k. has been confirmed as that of king richard the third was the last english king to be killed in battle back in fourteen eighty five but his grave was lost in the sixteenth century after the demolition of the church he was buried next to the remains will be reinterred in leicester cathedral with the details of the burial ceremony yet to be released. the artistic director of moscow's bolshoi ballet is

travelling to germany for specialist treatment after a violent acid attack against him just over two weeks ago doctors there will be trying to help save set to get fillings eyesight he said in english to reports now from the moscow hospital fillin was taken immediately after the attack. his doing rather well surprisingly well actually he did thank the doctors for doing everything in their power to have a very difficult situation that. third degree burns and those are very severe space and he said he's full of hope for a full recovery. and he actually looked very enthusiastic and the whole situation of course considering his circumstances actually he did appear to be quiet. did speak about person who is supposedly he did say that he knows exactly who it was on this particular day today did not want to talk about the

investigation at all so as not to interfere with the investigation he did however. he did to receive threats before but he also mentioned and this is important. he didn't mention that he's continuing to work with everybody who has been left in charge. he said that nothing is. changing. performances and everything about the theater will be carrying on before. an investigation by the guardian newspaper has revealed britain's largest police force stole the identities of dozens of children for you spy undercover officers the scheme went ahead without informing or consulting any of the parents of. the methods of operating chosen by the metropolitan police all unacceptable. wondering if i live in

a democracy or not we're talking about the identities of eighty dead children stolen by the police i mean you do want to tell you where else these infiltrations have been taking place as well do they have police agents within our political parties where are the lines being drawn because it doesn't seem like there are any loans being drawn are absolutely behind the former director of public prosecutions mcdonald who is now saying there must be a public inquiry into these kinds of police practices let's not forget these are crown servants does her majesty know that they're up to this does she approve and i mean there has to be really deep inquiry here the guardian of real can of worms and there's absolutely no accountability at things where these things that have been authorised through through scotland yard the idea that people haven't complained about it therefore it's ok well of course i'm not going to complain about it if they don't know about it it's almost like the scotland yard is being run like some kind of secret cult we've got to break that cult if we're going to have justice. on

the website right now russia's upcoming winter olympics in sochi is shaping up to be the most expensive games in history find out how much the event will cost it dot com. plus the russian city which was host to one of the pivotal battles of world war two could reclaim its former name on around the country soviet leader joseph stalin find out about that it's online. thousands of people in america are forced to undergo polygraph testing every year in the name of national security that's a minute it's ring the alarm over u.s. federal agencies exceeding their legal and ethical limits to determine who can be trusted or is miniport has more in this. for more than three decades john sullivan worked as a polygraph examiner for america's central intelligence agency today the retired cia employee is offering some strong opinions about the nation's lie detector policy too many honest people are too many people who should be passing their tests

aren't and there's no there's no accountability for that. last year more than seventy three thousand americans were reportedly required to undergo polygraph tests in order to get or keep jobs with the federal government according to an investigation by mcclatchy newspapers a growing number of u.s. agencies are asking employees and applicants intimate questions that extend way beyond the realm of national security probing matters such as sexual conduct financial matters and past personal relationships a woman was pressured to talk about her experience being molested as a child and when the polar bear for said that he refused to go on with the interrogation he alleges that he was pressured to go back and continue interrogating or a decade ago the national academies an organization advising washington on

scientific matters urged the feds to stop using polygraphs as a screening technique scientists found that polygraphs aren't reliable enough to prevent innocent people from failing and deceptive candidates from passing i think it's important to understand that the polygraph is not just. for screening it's an interrogation tool. there's no question that the trip that leads to indication of. the drilling down. question that they get asked may well be quite true over the past ten years. at least fifteen federal agencies including the n.s.a. and f.b.i. have reportedly continued or expanded their polygraph screenings with nearly five million people having access to classified information or washington maintains that polygraph testing is the most effective way from preventing secrets from being

leaked lisa ribicoff is an independent polygraph examiner and investigator who uses the polygraph program designed by homeland security she contends that it's ninety eight percent accurate i do think that there are some questions pertaining to some emotional aspects and personal situations should not be included but i do understand why they're included on the basis of that the government needs to see how exactly what their breaking point is what are they willing to discuss what are they not willing to discuss however applicants who are denied a coveted position after failing a polygraph are prohibited from accessing the records of their interrogation and are often barred from contesting the results were filing complaints in federal court in two thousand and four the cia veteran who conducted lie detector interrogations for thirty one years failed his own screening there was absolutely no question in my mind the the test was right. was a terrible test sullivan lost his security clearance and was denied a job with

a federal contracting agency he claims his examiner falsified the results possible retribution for solving his book detailing america's polygraph system sub's a come in for a polygraph test now are guilty until proven innocent and i think that's. a corruption and an abuse of the process the obama administration is now promising to draft a new national polygraph policy that would prevent agencies from pushing legal or ethical boundaries during screenings but at the moment the program has no oversight or accountability meaning tens of thousands of u.s. citizens will continue getting personally probes in the name of national security bring up or nine fourteen new york. this is r.t. live here in moscow in a couple minutes from now we bring you the first part of a feature length documentary on the occupy movement the effects of which are still being felt across america our be back with the news team with more news in just over half an hour from now.

secretary of state hillary clinton recently testified to congress in regards to the attack on the us consulate was killed an american ambassador in benghazi libya during the testimony couldn't rather calmly said things like that the revolutions that sprang up during the arab spring like in libya where the events in bali have created instability and safe havens for terrorists and she made it clear that there is no doubt that the algerian terrorists had weapons from libya so the us secretary has basically admitted that the actions of the usa and nato have caused a mass instability that has allowed the seeds of terrorism to grow when the

justification for most of the actions in the muslim world is to stop evil dictators who harbor terrorists or spread shouting to mock recy if libya would have been left alone algerian terrorists wouldn't be getting any weapons from it now this is like an exterminator accidently or maybe on purpose actually feeding the roaches in your basements that there are ten times more of them and then saying that he has to keep working because he's the only one who can get rid of the roaches people like hillary clinton who support funding brutal jihad it's rebel groups to overthrow governments to somehow bring about stability and democracy are either dismally stupid or consciously running a very brutal con game but that's just my opinion. little

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